After a death, the family wants to start clearing the house and the bank wants a grant of probate before it will release anything. Between those two facts sits a period of uncertainty in which well-meaning relatives do things that cause real problems later — chiefly, removing items from the property before anyone has recorded what was there and what it was worth.
What the executor is actually responsible for
From the moment of death, the estate's assets belong to the estate, and the personal representatives — executors under a will, administrators where there is none — are responsible for collecting them in, paying the debts and taxes, and distributing what remains in accordance with the will or the intestacy rules.
That responsibility is personal. Personal representatives can be held liable for losses caused by maladministration, including distributing before liabilities are known and failing to account properly for the estate's assets. It is also why the valuation exercise matters more than families expect: the figures reported for inheritance tax must be accurate, and HMRC can and does challenge household and personal goods valued at a token amount when the house contained otherwise.
Removing items before the grant: what actually goes wrong
There is no rule that the house must stay untouched until probate is granted, and in practice it frequently cannot — perishables, security, a rented property whose landlord wants possession. The problems arise from how it is done rather than the fact of it.
- The valuation becomes impossible. Chattels must be valued at open market value at the date of death for inheritance tax. Once items have been dispersed among family members, nobody can produce a supportable figure, and the executor is left estimating an estate they can no longer see;
- Disputes become unresolvable. A beneficiary who believes a specific item was promised to them, and finds it already gone, has a grievance that poisons an administration for years. Most contested estates we encounter involve chattels worth far less than the legal costs of arguing about them;
- Specific gifts are defeated. A will leaving a named item to a named person cannot be honoured if the item left the house in week one;
- Insurance lapses. Most home insurers require notification of a death and impose conditions on unoccupied property — and cover for contents removed elsewhere is rarely what anyone assumes.
The rule of thumb that avoids all of it: record before you remove. Photograph each room, list the contents, obtain a professional valuation where there is anything of real value — jewellery, art, antiques, collections, vehicles — and keep the list with the estate papers. Then remove what has to be removed, noting where it went. An afternoon's work prevents the most common category of estate dispute.
What can be done before the grant
A surprising amount. Personal representatives can and should, in the first weeks: register the death and obtain several certified copies of the certificate; secure the property and notify the insurer; notify banks, pension providers and utilities; locate the will and check for later versions; and begin assembling the asset and liability schedule that the inheritance tax account will need.
Some assets do not need a grant at all. Jointly held property passing by survivorship passes automatically; many banks release balances below their own threshold on an indemnity; and the Tell Us Once service handles most government notifications in a single step. Where the entire estate is small and held jointly, a grant may never be required.
The two roles are not in the same position here, which is worth knowing before anyone is told they have no authority at all. In England and Wales an executor derives their authority from the will and holds it from the moment of death; the grant of probate evidences that authority rather than creating it. An administrator, where there is no will, has no authority until the grant of letters of administration is issued. In practice the distinction is often academic, because banks, registrars and the Land Registry will want to see the grant before they act whatever the legal position — but an executor can properly take steps to preserve and protect the estate that an administrator cannot.
What cannot be done is selling estate property or dealing with assets where a third party requires the grant before it will act — which is why the sequence usually runs: value, report for inheritance tax, pay what is due, obtain the grant, then realise and distribute.
The tax that has to be paid before the grant
The awkward feature of the system is that inheritance tax on the non-instalment element is generally due before the grant is issued — six months from the end of the month of death, after which interest runs — while the assets that would fund it are locked until the grant exists.
The routes through it are established: the direct payment scheme, under which banks pay tax directly from the deceased's accounts; instalment options for property and certain business assets, spread over ten years; and executor borrowing where nothing else fits. Planning this early is the difference between an orderly administration and one funded by the executor personally. Our guide to inheritance tax covers the reliefs and thresholds that determine the figure.
A workable order
Secure and insure the property; locate the will; record and photograph the contents before anything moves; obtain professional valuations for anything significant; assemble assets and liabilities; take advice on the inheritance tax position and the reliefs available; arrange funding for the tax; submit the account and pay; apply for the grant; then realise assets, settle liabilities, prepare estate accounts and distribute — advertising for creditors first where the estate is at all uncertain, which protects the personal representatives from claims emerging later.
Acumon supports executors through probate and estate administration, including valuations, the inheritance tax account and the estate's own tax returns, with inheritance tax planning for families dealing with it in advance. If a house is about to be cleared, the list and the photographs come first.